Orsha rocker wins compensation for forced psychiatric treatment

Aliaksandr Mukhin, leader of the Baran-based the Doors fan club, has managed to protect his rights in the Vitsebsk Regional Court. He was able to prove that last year he was illegally detained and subjected to involuntary psychiatric treatment.

The history of Aliaksandr Mukhin’s relations with local psychiatrists started in 2014. On May 10, he was taken from his home to mental hospital in Orsha. After talking with the doctors, he was diagnosed with “alcohol dependence syndrome” and taken for forced medical procedures.

The compulsory treatment lasted three days. Aliaksandr Mukhin was not allowed to phone his family, the doctors took his glasses and he could hardly see anything. And the staff, he said, kept saying that he would never be released from hospital. Nevertheless, on May 12 he was sent home, but put on record in the mental hospital.

Mr. Mukhin did not widely report about the incident, but wrote a letter to the Prosecutor’s Office in Orsha. He also told about his futile attempts to be removed from psychiatric records.

After an appeal to the prosecutor, Mukhin was removed from the register, and on July 23, he received a letter from the central clinic, where the doctors admitted that psychiatrists made a false diagnosis and violated the rights of the patient. This document was the key argument in court: Aliaksandr Mukhin filed a claim for damage to his honor, dignity and business reputation and demanded 25 million rubles in moral damages.

The court decided to collect from the clinic 3 million rubles in favor of Aliaksandr Mukhin. However, this decision was challenged by chief doctor Aliaksandr Plytkevich.

Nevertheless, on January 22, 2015 the Vitsebsk Regional Court upheld the decision of the court of Orsha regarding compensation to the victim. As for the actions of medical staff, the situation with Mukhin became the basis for certification of specialists in the knowledge of the legislation which they should be guided by in such cases.

For Aliaksandr, the protection of his honor was a matter of principle. He is well-known in the region, as he is founder and leader of a rock club “DOORS”, organizer of numerous concerts.

In an interview for the Orsha independent website orsha.eu, Aliaksandr Mukhin again justified his position: “Freedom for me is not an empty word. I do not want to turn into cattle, silent and powerless. When it all began, my relatives and friends told me: “You can prove nothing, why are you doing it, they can make an idiot out of you. You can’t break this wall.” But freedom is a natural feeling of each person given to us at birth. And it is not necessary to be hidden in some dark and distant corner of your soul.”